Psalms 13

Psalms 13THEME: David’s desperate plightThis is a rather doleful section of the Book of Psalms. As we have said, Psalms 9 through Psalms 15 deal with that time of trouble which is comingthe Great Tribulationand ones who figure during this time: Antichrist, and the Jewish remnant which will be true to God. It will be a time of great testing. David has written this psalm out of his own trying experience, but it has a contemporary interpretation. Also it has a prophetic or chronological interpretation, reaching down into the end times after the church is removed from the earth. David is being pursued as he writes this psalmprobably by King Saul. He may have been hiding at this time in the cave of Adullam while the Philistines were teamed up to hunt him out. Day after day he found himself in a desperate situation. In weariness of body and soreness of mind and heart he cries out to God:

Psalms 13:1

David sounds extremely pessimistic here. He feels that God has forsaken him, that he is on his own. What you have here, as Delitzsch describes it, is a long, deep sigh. “It comes finally from a relieved breast, by an already much more gentle and half-calmed prayer.”

Psalms 13:2

David is asking, “How long will this continue?” At this time David is a very weary man. Then he turns in prayer to God. This is his resource and his recourse.

Psalms 13:3

David was in grave danger when he wrote this. He was afraid to go to sleep for fear that his enemy would kill him. Yet, he needed rest badly. So he asked the Lord to protect and give him sleep.

Psalms 13:4

The enemy would rejoice if he could get to David. The rejoicing of the enemy would not only be against David but also against God, so he prays that the enemy will not get the upper hand. After having heaved this awful sigh of sorrow, he continues in prayer, and he finally settles back in wonderful faith and trust in God. This is a beautiful psalm.

Psalms 13:5

David did not think he was smart enough to get out of his predicament on his own. He took precautions, of course, but he knew only God could deliver him. God was his salvation.

Psalms 13:6

My friend, wherever you are and whoever you are and however you are, you can still sing praises to God. As I write this, it is easy for me to praise Him. I just got a good report from my doctor about my physical condition. The Lord has been good to me and it is easy to praise Him, but I think of a man in Southern California who for years ignored God. Then he was stricken with cancer. He is flat on his back, but he has turned to the Lord through our radio program.

Although he is in bad condition, a friend of mine who visited him told me, “It will rejoice your heart and humble you to visit this man and to see that in the midst of trouble he talks about how good God has been to him, how God has saved him, and how wonderful He is.” When you can praise God in a spot like that, you have arrived. He may be farther along than I am. And so in this psalm we have seen the desperate plight of David which mirrors the plight of God’s people in the Great Tribulation.